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35mm slide duplication

Has anyone worked out a good way of digitising slides using the 60mm f2.8 macro? There a number of relatively cheap units available but they all seem to designed with the Nikon 60mm macro or similar. With a bit of testing with the 60mm macro, a lens to slide distance of 125mm is about right to fill the 4/3 sensor with a 35mm slide so I guess one of the units on the marke plus extensions tubes might work but I don't know the dimensions. BTW, B&H are offering the Kaiser slide duplicator for $223.50USD whereas what appears to be identical or at least a exact knock-off, is the Polaroid slide duplicator offered by Amazon for $34.99USD.

Re: 35mm slide duplication

That's certainly an option. However, the ES-1 is designed for use with Nikon's 55mm and 60mm macro lenses so I'll probably need an extension to use it with the m4/3 60mm. I have ideas of how I can do this but I'd like to know if anyone else has a better idea. I've attempted to use a projector with the lens removed. It works but produces a lot of chromatic aberration and also I'm note sure this doing the sensor much good.

Re: 35mm slide duplication

I have had good success copying slides and negatives just using a light table, with the camera mounted on a tripod pointing straight down. To speed up the placement of each slide (get it into the same position each time), I use a clear plastic box frame like this:

You place the slide into the corner of the box (which is clamped on top of the light table with the light shining thru). You could also just use a small square, or even 2 rulers - anything to give you a non-moving corner on top of the light table - a corner where you can place the slide.

This might not be good if you have a lot of slides to do, but it works fine for a small bunch. Kind of a kludge, I guess, but it works OK, and any lens will do that can focus close enough to fill the camera's frame with the slide's image.

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Re: 35mm slide duplication

I bought a used Epson V500 scanner for $100.00. It comes with negative carriers, slide carriers and
a great program called ICE. You can batch your slides and it does a great job!!! I had the Nikon scanner and it stayed in the shop.

Re: 35mm slide duplication

When I thought about digitizing my father's old slides, I did a little bit of research on the topic, and also came to the conclusion that the best bet is simply getting a scanner that can do slides. The main reason being that you can do a lot of them in one go. A lot of them end up on ebay due to lack of use, so if you're going out and specially buying equipment, the scanner is not a bad idea.

Re: 35mm slide duplication

Originally Posted by RAH

I agree with Gunn and Edmunds that a scanner is the best way to go. I have used the camera method mentioned above, but a scanner is easier and probably better.

That's curious because other research I've done indicates that camera copying is quicker. A camera does 16MP in a fraction of a second. A flat bed scanner might do a number of slides in one go but it could take about 50sec at 3200dpi. Quality is not that much of a issue for me because so many of the slides are quite old anyway but speed is an issue since I have a couple of thousand slides to do. Anyway, I've taken the cheaper option and ordered some el cheapo bits needed for camera copying. If it works out, great, if not I'll have to get a scanner. I'll let you know either way.

Re: 35mm slide duplication

I'm genuinely curious, because I have the 60mm macro and for the longest time I have been thinking about digitizing some of my father's old pictures.

I'll tell you what I ordered but I won't how well it works till I try it. I ordered the Polaroid slide copier, Kaiser film strip holder, a 28mm (52mm dia) extension tube, a 46-5mm step-up ring. Kaiser replied to my email and kindly admitted that their slide copier probably comes from the same supplier as the Polaroid one but they believe their close-up lens is of a higher quality justifying the higher price. Below I've attached an Amazon reply to my question. There are some good tips particularly using HDR for slide copying.

"Bob says:(Change) I'm wanting to use this with my M.ZD 60mm macro. I've done some testing and it seems I need to keep the slide about 125mm from the lens's filter thread. I'll need an extension tube but I can't find the dimensions of this unit anywhere. Would you be able to measure off the following dimensions for me:
1. the distance between the front of the filter thread and the slide?
2. The outside diameter of the end of the tube?
Thanks,
Bob

Bob,
Measuring the distance from the end of the tube where the filter threads are to the actual slide film plane position when using the slide holder is 97mm. The filter threads will screw into the lens front and those threads are 4mm. Based on that, the distance from the front of the lens barrel filter threads to the film plane is 93mm. This screws into a 52mm filter thread. If you need adapters to go up or down in diameter, then that will add to the length. I think the optimum focal length is somewhere around 48 to 50 mm. I tried my Sigma 60mm 2.8 Art lens with extension tubes and it cropped the slide, slightly. I tried setting my kit zoom at 50mm but I couldn't get the right combination of extension tube length in order for it to focus properly.

Just a tip:
I bracketed exposures two 1/3 stop increments up and two 1/3 stop increments down and then HDR'd that in Lightroom. It allowed the digital sensor to capture the dynamic range of the old Kodachromes and Ektachromes. It looked as good if not better than anything I've seen from expensive Nikon scanners and much faster. Scanning BW and color negs might be more of a challenge since this only comes with a slide holder"

Re: 35mm slide duplication

Since the subject of negative scanning was mentioned (as opposed to slides), I'll just mention that I ran into a great deal of complication when I was thinking about buying an Epson V800 scanner for use at a museum I volunteer at.

We have a lot of large format negatives (up to 8"x10"), so my plan was to just lay the negatives on the flat bed and scan. Well, not so fast! Turns out the those plastic negative holders serve more of a purpose than just positioning - they raise the negative up from the flatbed and position it so the focusing is correct. So you cannot just lay a damn negative on the bed.

Plus, there's the whole issue of using "wet mount scanning" (which I learned about during this investigation). Read about it here:

So, you have that to deal with, if you really want to get good results. So I just gave up. For those large negatives, I just use the technique I mentioned above for slides - put them on a light-table and use a camera to shoot them straight-down from a tripod.

I know that this is a minor hijacking of this slide-duplication topic, but I thought folks might find it interesting. Also, no doubt you can get better quality from slides if you use that wet-mount scanning technique on them (remove them from the holder, etc). Sounds like fun! (Not!).

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Re: 35mm slide duplication

RAH
OMG, you have totally turned me off scanning. At least with cameras we have DOF and focus stacking if necessary plus it's all done in one click. But, yes, large format film is something else. A light table, a camera mounted overhead and a non-reflective glass cover plate may the way to go.